A Question of Quality.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper on quality and distance education argues that if the goal of education is to produce an independent learner, distance education is ideally suited to encourage effective independent learning when the instruction and programming is of a high quality. The paper first notes the Australian government's interest in promoting distance education that incorporates both quality and economies of scale. The paper then defines quality education as education that produces an independent learner. A look at the current indicators of quality in distance education notes that distance education is extremely public, a fact that puts the students in a position to judge the quality of the services. It is suggested that quality may be improved through viewing students as customers and in particular through understanding who the customer is and encouraging student collaboration. It is further noted that not only is the student a customer but the future or current employer is also a customer of the educational services, and that distance learning institutions need to keep close to their customers through various techniques including mentoring and making greater use of technologies. (Contains 15 references.) (JB)